Gun slings for carrying rifles or long barrelled guns are nearly as old as long guns themselves. By attaching a cord or strap extending from rear end butt to the front of the stock forms a natural carrier for over the shoulder transport. The strap forms a natural bight around the wearer's shoulder to distribute the load over the shoulder, upper back, and collar bone area of the wearer.
Many gun slings have the additional duty of providing support for the shooter's forearm during shooting. These double thickness slings are most often found on target rifles.
I have found that many shooters employ the gun sling primarily for aid in carrying their rifle which may weigh as much as ten pounds. On sustained hiking the weight of the gun bearing on the collar bone can be irritating. This difficulty has been minimized through the use of sheepskin lining on the strap which provides a natural cushion. We have also widened the sling in the shoulder region. This type of widened sling is the subject of my U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,181.
Noticeable is a common practice of hunters to grasp the gun sling in the upper chest region by placing their thumb under the sling in the classic hiking pose. This serves to relieve the pressure of the strap on the collar bone and the shoulder region and provides a comfortable resting place for the hand and forearm. It also affords rapid unshouldering of the weapon.
I have found that it is possible to produce an even wider gun sling than my earlier patented design modified to provide a thumb hole located at an intermediate spacing from each edge.
The addition of a thumb hole has surprisingly provided a far superior grasping position and is more comfortable for the wearer. I have found that users of this improved gun sling immediately assume the natural grasp it provides and show amazement at the comfort. Unrecognized is a second feature of this invention which also accounts in large part for the comfort of this new gun sling.
The sling is wider than a normal sling and narrows to the common 3/4 to 11/2 inch width toward each end. The narrowing region is contoured to fit the palm of the hand so the thumb hole and narrowing region conform to the shape of the hand when in a grasping condition.